Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to configurable monitoring processes and systems related to vehicle systems, such as railway systems, including trains travelling in a railroad's track network, and, in particular, to an improved railroad locomotive monitoring system, configuration system, and method for use in connection with the locomotives or control cars of trains travelling in the railroad's track network.
Description of Related Art
Vehicle systems and networks exist throughout the world, and, at any point in time, a multitude of vehicles, such as cars, trucks, buses, trains, and the like, are travelling throughout the system and network. With specific reference to trains travelling in a track network, the locomotives of such trains are typically equipped with or operated using train control, communication, and management systems (e.g., Positive Train Control (PTC) systems), such as the I-ETMS® of Wabtec Corporation. Such train control systems normally include at least one on-board computer (or controller) that is used to manage and control the various actions of the train through interaction with the operator.
It is common practice in various geographic locations, e.g., North America, and in certain applications for railroad operators, e.g., freight operators, to interchange locomotives or control cars between various railroad operators. When a locomotive is interchanged (or exchanged), the locomotive owned by one railroad operator may be operated on the track or within the track network of another railroad operator, often by the other railroad operator's crew. Further, locomotives may be interchanged for extended periods of time, between multiple railroad operators, and may be operated across the receiving railroad operator's track network.
As is known, many railroad operators are implemented monitoring technology and related systems, such as voice recording or in-cab video recording, in their locomotives for safety and accident investigation purposes. It is possible that the data collected by these monitoring systems could also be used for disciplinary purposes. This technology may be implemented on a railroad-operator-by-railroad-operator basis, and is not implemented in any uniformly adopted or standardized manner. The use of this technology is often subject to union contracts and negotiations that may vary from one railroad operator to the next. For example, it may occur that one railroad operator may reach a collective bargaining agreement with its engineers and conductors unions, and adopt an in-cab video and/or voice recording system for its fleet. However, it is highly likely that one or more of those locomotives that are equipped with in-cab monitoring devices would be interchanged for use by other railroad operators that have not negotiated the use of in-cab monitoring systems with its various unions. When the crew of the receiving railroad operator operates the locomotive, these in-cab monitoring systems would be operable and potentially result in labor disputes and grievances with the receiving railroad operator.
It is envisioned that PTC systems, such as the I-ETMS® of Wabtec Corporation, will be widely deployed across North American railroads. One of the attributes of such a PTC system is that the on-board computer has or can establish the owner of the track on which the train is operating. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to manage and coordinate the operation and/or configuration of a monitoring device or system that is related to the in-cab video and/or voice recording processes.